July 23, 2014

I will be coming home this year, but my return date has changed.  It was August 12th, but I will now be staying until December 9th.  Four months is not a significant amount of time, but it was a difficult decision to make after already being away for a year.  I am happy with my decision though.  I feel like my work here is not yet finished.  And though it’s going to be very difficult to say goodbye to my family here in December, I am looking forward to being happily reunited with my family and friends in the States before Christmas.

School continues to occupy the majority of my time and energy.  My students give me gray hairs, but dang it, I  love ‘em.  I currently have twelve students with an age range of 11-14 and a grade range of 1-6.  It’s definitely an interesting mix.  Seven of my twelve students will be graduating in December from 6th grade, thus the change in my return date.  I will be teaching them until graduation, and it’s quite an accomplishment to graduate from sixth grade so we will make a pretty big deal out of it.  Next January, my students will have their first taste of independence.  They will attend school off the grounds of Amigos in colegio or high school.

As of now, I teach English, math and science every day to my crew.  English is difficult.  It’s hard when you’re an awkward pre-teen or teenager to risk sounding stupid in another language just because some random gringa wants you to learn it.  They love music so I’m constantly looking for ways to expand vocabulary through songs. You know those songs you love to hate like JB’s “Baby” and Rebecca Black’s “Friday?”  These types of songs are perfect for ESL learners because their lyrics are so simplistic.  “Yesterday was Thursday, Today is Friday, Tomorrow will be Saturday, and Sunday comes afterwards, I don’t want this weekend to end!”

I also encourage/bribe/death stare them into singing.  Sometimes I look around at these adolescents singing and doing the motions for “The Sticky Moose” or “My God is So Great,” and I laugh on the inside.  They are so very reluctant to try out English that I almost never make fun of them, even though they don’t extend the same courtesy to me and my Spanish.  Go figure- we’re still working on the concept of empathy.

Most of my students have no shame when it comes to exercising a certain bodily function during school.  There are times when we stop class to turn on the fan and wait for the return of our ability to focus/breath.  I strategized for a long time about the best way to handle this situation, but I finally realized it was a losing battle.  My students are more or less like siblings, and they have no shame in front of each other or me for that matter.

Anyhow, with consideration of the whole journey of the past school year in mind and all of its ups and downs, it just didn’t feel right to abandon the venture 4 months before the end…. and so here I am, searching for the energy to develop one more lesson plan and locate American pop songs suitable for ESL kids.   

This part of the blog post is dedicated as a class yearbook of sorts.  I think all kids are extremely entertaining, but I hope I can give you a glimpse of the personalities that make up our bilingual class.

Charlie

Classroom Identity: Smarty Pants

Charlie is on the right

Charlie is newly back from a week-long stint in agro.  He’s young and acts young.  He’s terrible, but sweet talks all of the teachers, including me and I love him.  He’s great at English and so naturally intelligent that it’s a little scary.  He once ate one of our science experiments.  It was an investigation of mold growth on sandwich bread and cheese.  Yum.

Daniel

Nickname: Bear

I’m not sure if Daniel’s nickname is due to his personality or physical resemblance to a bear.  He is of the quieter type, and he’s a bit of a loner and so I worry for him.  His talents set him apart from the other students as he is artistic and sensitive.  He refuses to talk about his family.

Susana

Nickname: Cat

Susana is beautiful.  Everybody knows it, but  she is not just getting by on her looks.  She is a great student.  She went to a bilingual school when she was younger so she is fluent in English.  Susana’s mom visited her this past year and told her that she must study hard in school as she (her mom) did not have that opportunity.  Susana is one of of seventeen children.

Jackson

Classroom Identity: The Jock

Jackson is a natural leader.  He is one of the tallest and most intelligent students in the class.  When he decides something is worth his time to learn, he conquers it with little effort.  I think that I finally earned his respect when we made sugar crystals for his science experiment.

Denia

Nickname: Sweet

Denia is younger than most of the kids and two grade levels behind.  She’s struggled academically a bit this year, but she has kept her chin up.  I don’t know if I’ve ever known such a determined or independent kid.  She is Jackson’s younger sister, and they watch out for each other.

Erin

Life Aspiration: Professional Soccer Player

Erin is called “nino” on the soccer field due to his small stature, but he is a really great player.  He just dances with the soccer ball.  In school, he enjoys provoking me by playing dumb.  I’m on to his game, though, and I’ve stopped letting it affect me. He gets along well with his younger brother Oscar.

Oscar

Preferred Activity: Eating tortillas

Oscar reminds me of Winne the Pooh.  He has a little pot belly.  He’s a happy little guy, but doesn’t enjoy things that require a lot of effort.  When he doesn’t understand the math concept, he starts guessing with a big grin on his face.  It’s all I can do to keep my composure and keep myself from telling him that guessing and being cute isn’t going to solve the math problem.

Robert

Nickname: Martian

Robert is a little crazy.  I catch him with his finger up his nose at least once a day.  He gets intensely angry in a matter of seconds, but is very affectionate the rest of the time.  I feel like I have a bit of a special bond with him.  We spent three Saturday mornings together so that he could learn how to ride a bike.  He can do it now!  

Donovan

Classroom Identity: The Gentle Giant

Donovan is one of the biggest kids in the class, but is definitely the most soft spoken.  He rarely talks disrespectfully to anyone, except when he’s frustrated during math class.  His slow smile is simply beautiful and he is just so sweet.  Every once in a while he surprises me though.  See antidote below.

Maldo

Classroom Identity: The Quick Wit

Maldo is also recently back from a week-long stint in agro.  He looks like a little old man and is hilarious.  His English is great, and he is forever cracking me up with new phrases… but it was really not funny when he and Donovan kept saying the f-word over and over during English class.  They lost some privileges that day, but we haven’t had problems since.  

Michael

Life Aspiration: President of Honduras

Michael is one of my favorites.  He is very idealistic and is almost always respectful.  I think he just acts out in school everyone once in a while to keep up a bit of a reputation.  He’s smart and works hard when he isn’t being a mopey teenager.  I wouldn’t say that the Honduran presidency is beyond his reach.

George
Classroom Identity: Class Clown/Wild Card

George looks tough.  I was intimidated of him until I got to know him as the lovable goofball that he is.  Arriving at Amigos with a 1st grade level of education and 14 years of age, he’s had his struggles and frustrations in the classroom this year, but he’s making progress.  George once asked the school psychologist if girls pass gas because “well, he’s never heard it before.”



And that's it... that's the bunch! You can blame them for my extended absence. They're pretty special. We actually only have 2 more days of normal school until all of them begin working at different apprenticeships for a month. We'll hit the books again at the end of August. Though I won't miss the daily grind of lesson planning and grading, I will miss their company and the quality time spent together slaving over dividing fractions.